New Girl
by Maerd7733SCAIP
Summary: Nedra Haruno has always been grateful that her tiny family moves around a lot. But this time around, she might actually want to stay put...rated T for safety


**A/N: Yeah. I'm in a Naruto-ish mood. Enjoy XD**

The door burst open and a red-headed girl of about sixteen ran into the room and flopped on her bed. She snatched her pillow and buried her face in it.

Normally, this would mean something had gone terribly wrong, but in this particular household, this was a normal occurrence.

Another girl's head appeared over the bed, hair flowing down like a curtain behind her. Her legs were curled up over her back as she lay on the upper level of the bunk bed she shared with her sister.

"I take it we're moving, then?" she asked in a surprisingly raspy voice that held a bit of a chuckle in it.

The other girl glared at her twin, who was undeniably smirking beneath the bandages covering her face. "Can you _not_?" she snapped. "This is the second time this _month_! We usually get to stay at least two or three months before moving again!"

The bandaged girl shrugged before raising herself back onto her bed. "I don't mind it." She said quietly.

The first girl sighed and flipped herself around so that her face was looking upwards. "I know _you_ don't, Ra." She said gently, pulling out an old nickname from when they were kids, derived from the Egyptian god of the sun. The then-five-year-old had insisted her sister's smile was brighter than the sun itself. "But _I_ do. Would it _kill_ her to just stay in one place for once?" her pale green eyes glinted with anger.

"That's not fair," objected the second. "You know she can't have anyone catching her-"

"Then why can't she just _quit_!" the first yelled, slamming her fists into the mattress. "She's addicted to _every_ freakin' drug out there-"

"That's a _bit_ of an exaggeration-"

"-and she blows all her money on that instead of proper food and clothes for us! I don't even know how she can _afford_ to move all the time, and-"

A sudden pounding on the wall made both girls freeze. A slurred woman's voice yelled at them through the plaster. Although they couldn't make out the words, they knew by the tone of her voice that she was threatening them. Although the woman's empty threats had ceased to scare the first, the second always trembled like a leaf at the slightest contact with their mother.

They waited a good fifteen minutes for the woman to calm down before daring to speak again.

"Two more years." Sighed the second. "Just remember, two more years and we can get out of here and do whatever we want."

"Technically one." Green eyes gleamed with anticipation. "Our birthday's in a few weeks, remember?"

"Of course I do." Bandages quirked upwards as the second girl closed her eyes and nestled in her bed. "Five weeks and two days, to be exact."

"And I bet you could name the hours, minutes and seconds, too." The first muttered playfully.

"So how soon are we moving?"

Another sigh echoed through the room, this time emanating from the lower bunk of the bed. "We'll be out of here by the end of the week."

"Where are we going?"

"You expect me to know?" the first girl rolled off the bed and shed her clothes quickly, slipping her pajamas over her body instead. "You know she never tells us until we're actually there."

"Point taken." The second groaned. "Toss me my pajamas, will you?"

Her pajamas hit her full in the face.

"Fun-neh." She said, drawling the word out slowly after laughing sarcastically. She began unwrapping the bandages that covered her arms, legs, and face, as she had already taken off the ones covering her chest and stomach. She took great care to toss them onto her twin's bed, knowing she hated that with great passion. She then shed her own clothes and chucked them across the room into the laundry basket, quickly pulling on her own pajamas.

"I don't see why you feel the need to wear these all the time." Her sister pointed out, flinging the bandages into the trash can. "Even in your own home!"

"Force of habit, I guess." She shrugged, nestling under the sheets. "So we'll have to start packing tomorrow?"

"Yep." A tennis ball hit the light switch with amazing accuracy, flipping it to the _**off**_ position.

"Y'know, that's one of the nice things about having a druggie as your mom…"

"What makes you say that?"

"We don't stay in one spot for very long."

"Dude, I was just ranting about that."

"I know, but…"

"But what?"

"No, nothing…"

"Ra…"

"."

It was a mark of how close the two were that the first girl could understand the garbled words coming from her sister's mouth. She lifted a pale hand and slammed the heel of her palm against her forehead. "You're being an idiot, Sis."

"I know."

"When are you going to start standing up for yourself?"

"I don't know…I'm not a fighter like you. You know that."

"It's not a matter of being a fighter, Ra…it's a matter of deciding you're not going to lie down and take all the crap Life decides to throw at you. It's about chucking those lemons he gives you and yelling 'I wanted oranges, dumbass!'"

That, at least, drew a giggle out of the other girl's throat. Her speaking voice, raspy and unpleasant to listen to, was nothing like her laugh, which was high-pitched and cheerful, betraying the theory that the raspy voice hadn't been the one she had started life with.

"Wanna bet we can each fill one suitcase?"

"Depends on which suitcase you're talking about." The raspy voice sounded sinister in the dark.

"The small ones."

"The two-by-threes?"

"Yep."

"No."

"What? Why not?"

"Because you're going to win. Just like you always do when we make bets."

"You're a sore loser."

"You're an egotistical winner."

"Goodnight."

"Night!"

"Love you!" they called simultaneously. They didn't think their nightly ritual odd at all; besides the fact that they got on better than most siblings did, the two simple words were repeated often to remind them that the concept of family did indeed exist.

And as each girl snuggled into her pillow and drifted off into sleep, they couldn't shake the feeling that this time, the move was going to be life-changing.

**A/N: Yay! It's done!**

**And before you ask:**

**Yes, not naming the characters was intentional. And difficult. But I think I've pulled it off nicely!**

**Yes, I am going to update all my other stories too.**

**Yes, I am aware than no one reads these.**

**Going to keep it short, sweet and to the point:**

**REVIEW!**


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